5 ms·
Not just winter. Oaks produce huge numbers of acorns about one season every 7 years. My yard had thousands and thousands a few years ago, for example, but ver
by cryptonector 5y ago
Not just winter.
Oaks produce huge numbers of acorns about one season every 7 years. My yard had thousands and thousands a few years ago, for example, but very few since. Oaks seem to do this to overwhelm squirrels and ensure that a few acorns manage to germinate. Squirrels that can save acorns for years will do much better than squirrels that can only save enough for each winter.
- throwaway0a5e 5y agoLots of tree species do this. They sync up and every few years overwhelm whatever eats their seeds.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- setr 5y agoSo the same prey saturation strategy as cicadas? I wonder if that also produces a prime-number cycle preference
- codeismath 5y agoPhenological event known as "masting": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_(botany) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_(botany)
- 1e-9 5y agoSimilarly, periodical cicadas synchronously emerge in great numbers (more 370 per square meter) every 13th or 17th year.[1] This overwhelms predators and it's thought that the prime-numbered intervals prevent predators from synchronizing their reproductive cycles with that of the cicadas. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodical_cicadas